Help with Juniper yamadori

18 years ago

I planted some JuniperÂs (Probably Chinensis, but IÂm not totally sure) in these large 20 gallon black plastic pots, in some not so great soil (long story). What happened was, my neighbor dug them up from his yard, and I didnÂt know about it until I saw them in a pile beside the road, so I decided to try to save them. It was a BIG rush job.

I didnÂt have time to get all the supplies together to plant the 8 junipers, and anyway, I didnÂt think they would survive the ordeal because I thought they were out of the ground to long. Now, they all have fresh sprouts all over them, so, IÂm thinking they might make it after all.

IÂm worried now though that the soil I had to use isnÂt going to dry enough, plus, I put them under a tree where theyÂll get filtered light, so itÂs not like the heat from the sun will help dry the soil out any either (And those big pots). The soil is heavy on pine bark chips and peat type potting soil with Turface mixed in. I donÂt know what the % of each is. It drains well but itÂs staying pretty damp. I plan on leaving them in a shady (filtered sun) area for some time to take the stress off them, but that will tend to make the damp soil condition worse.

TheyÂve been planted this way a little over a week, so what should I do? should I attempt to repot them again in wooden boxes made to fit the root ball better with better soil, the way I normaly do it? Or should I just try to deal with the conditions as they are and not risk more trauma? IÂm in zone 8

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Comments (5)

lucy
18 years ago
I personally would repot at least some of them using a lot more grit, because they're not yet established anyway where they are. Did they have a decent amount of roots on them, or what? This way you can do a kind of experiment about which do how well in the conditions. Are you planning on watering them at all, or leaving it to nature - because I would water the unrepotted ones (if you do do some) less often.
rjj1
18 years ago
Just my opinion, but you will probably loose them if you repot now. They have already been stressed to the max and repotting again will be too much. Your mix doesn't sound that bad and 20 gallon pots aren't going to dry out quickly yet :-). I grow quite a few young seeding in just bark and peat. You really answered your own question when you said it drains well.

When the trees take off and you need to allow more sun, staying wet won't be a problem in those black pots.

randy
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Warren8
Original Author
18 years ago
Some of them had great roots, in fact on a few, I couldnÂt tell that any were cut off. Some not so great. These Junipers are maybe 25-30 years old more or less. A couple of them are 7 or 8 inches thick at the base while some are just a few inches. They all have curvaceous, multiple trunks and are some prostrate growing variety of Juniper. TheyÂll make great bonsai if I can pull them through this.

As far as watering goes, I was planning on just watering as the soil dries somewhat. IÂm using a misting system to water the foliage 4 or 5 times a day to help them out too. That moisture may be wetting the soil to much, so I might stop that, or at least do it by hand carefully misting the foliage and making sure it doesnÂt wet the soil. Maybe cutting that down to once a day. I know this type of Juniper doesnÂt like to have their roots stay wet for to long.
WeÂve had unusually chilly weather lately too, which might be why the soil I made isnÂt drying out. And maybe as the weather warms up, in the next few weeks, that might change etc...

The new sprouts I see all over all of them may just be stored energy reserves and not really a sign that theyÂre going to survive..I donÂt know. I guess IÂll have to wait a couple of more months to know for sure.

IÂm thinking IÂll just leave them as they are and carefully monitor the soil moister, not letting them stay to wet and carefully repot them next spring -if they survive that is..
rjj1
18 years ago
It sound to me like you don't really need advice, just confirmation you are doing things right:-).

Old large collected material should be monitored closely, but not constantly tweaked hoping to fine tune things. That kills more collected material than sloppy watering techniques.

Repotting again freshly collected stressed material is not a good idea. Might as well pour gas on it and light it up. Take your time and do it right the first time. Sounds to me like you did.

randy
lucy
18 years ago
Norman, if it's done carefully, it is not a death sentence, and junipers can go quickly if sitting in wet soil all the time.